Tartle Best Data Marketplace
Tartle Best Data Marketplace
Tartle Best Data Marketplace
Tartle Best Data Marketplace

How much do you know about Fac(ad)ebook?

Throughout the years, we’ve heard plenty. The platform has inspired, surprised, and betrayed us. A lot of us seem to have a love-hate relationship with Facebook, because while we recognize and resent their control over our personal information, we continue to condone their actions by being present on the site.

In this episode, Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby analyze the true intentions of Facebook after reading an article on how researchers lost access to their accounts after digging up data against the platform.

A Laundry List of Controversies

Since its creation, the platform has had its fair share of ups and downs. While it remains one of the biggest social media sites in the world and its presence has helped people connect with their loved ones it’s also been the subject of controversy. 

In 2014, Facebook was criticized for running psychological tests on 70,000 unconsenting participants in 2012. This test involved removing a certain list of words from their news feeds to see how it affected their reactions to posts. 

Later, in 2018, the Cambridge Analytica scandal showed everyone just how compromised their Facebook accounts were. The data analytics firm improperly harvested data from millions of users for ad targeting during the 2016 election.

And in 2019, the FTC fined Facebook $5 billion over violations of user privacy.

There are plenty more scandals in the past decade to illustrate how the platform has consistently pushed the boundaries of user privacy and personal rights. And yet, people continue to use the platform—effectively giving Facebook the power to also continue commercializing their personal data.

How Can We Change Facebook?

Alexander McCaig clarifies that he doesn’t care about the platform. He explains that this is because Facebook is a commercialization engine, and has been clear about their intentions for their users.

It’s difficult to expect change from a super tech company that is set on its ambition to continue profiting from its users. A more realistic goal to work on would be to take away its biggest source of income, which is its massive user base.

Jason pointed out that if a huge momentum against Facebook occurred and a billion users collectively decided to just stop using the platform, it would have a tangible and more concrete impact on their actions. In contrast, writing articles would not be as effective.

Closing Thoughts: Starting the Shift Away from  Facebook

The anger towards big tech corporations like Facebook is misplaced. With all the awareness around what it’s capable of doing and what it has already chosen to do before, people don’t need more content on how they’re being used as cash cows. They need a way to mobilize against the platform;  an incentive to move away from using Facebook as their primary source of connection and entertainment.

The TARTLE platform is capable of giving people this renewed purpose on the internet. The marketplace is designed to fully respect the autonomy and privacy of each individual. Users are free to fill out all the data packets they want and earn from their hard work. Everybody who is on the TARTLE platform has the opportunity to become a data champion.

If you have the strong desire to stop an enormous commercialization system like Facebook from using people as cash cows, the first step towards achieving your goal is to find out what you have control over—yourself, and your participation in that very system.

Cutting off their access to your data may seem insignificant when you are just one person out of a billion users on the platform. However, change is never about one big miraculous step that suddenly and neatly solves all the problems. It’s a series of small steps that amount to a big change over time.

You could be the first step of the movement that takes down Facebook’s monopoly over other people’s data. All you need to do is stop using it—and if you want a renewed perspective on your power as an individual, make the switch to the TARTLE marketplace.

It’s time to find out: what’s your data worth?

Sign up for the TARTLE Marketplace through this link here.

 

Do you control your data, or does your data control you?

The internet has evolved at an unprecedented pace. It’s a massive network of individuals, corporations, and other entities that can fit in the back of your pocket. Our most prominent use of the internet is for communication—through social media, we believe we are empowered because of our extensive connections, we think that we have been given a voice because we are only on one end of the screen, sometimes shrouded in the comfort of anonymity.

Jaron Lanier wants to challenge those beliefs.

Jaron Lanier is a pioneer of virtual reality technology and has been in the industry since the 1980s. His involvement in the evolution of modern technology has given him rockstar status in the tech world.

However, he’s taken a complete 180 regarding his beliefs on the growth of the internet and the direction that adjacent technologies have taken—and many of his opinions align with what TARTLE stands for.

In this episode, Alexander McCaig and Jason Rigby engage in a light back-and-forth on a quote made by Jaron Lanier in his book entitled, Who Owns The Future?

“The foundational idea of humanistic computing is that provenance is valuable. Information is people in disguise, and people ought to be paid for value they contribute that can be sent or stored on a digital network.” - Jaron Lanier

Are We Losing Our Humanity to the Internet?

Jaron describes how the internet has journeyed down a path where human beings are all treated like machine components in one giant electronic brain. We all take our part in powering this massive brain through our interactions on the internet: we build a unique personal profile as netizens by visiting our favorite websites, shopping for goods and services, and otherwise investing plenty of time and effort navigating the digital landscape.

The internet takes all these interactions and synthesizes it to create an all-knowing electronic brain that is capable of fulfilling all our desires. If you want to buy a certain product and start searching for it, you’ll soon get ads showing that specific item across your platforms. If you look at the websites and applications you use, your mind is trained on the function of the product and how amazing it is for technology to have reached this point. 

We forget that everything on the internet is hoisted on the shoulders of ordinary people, like us.

Where is the harm in this? The internet dehumanizes people and takes away our capacity to have a meaningful, authentic human experience—especially when you fall victim to the allure of social media.

Getting the Hive Mind Out of the Gutter

One of the most thrilling ideas of being on the internet is that at any time, you can hide behind a veil of anonymity. It’s a great development for many people: anonymity helps others speak up about experiences they were too afraid to share. For example, the #MeToo movement helped bring a voice to oppressed women across the world through anonymous posting.

However, anonymity can also have an ugly face. It’s also enabled troll farms, fake news mills, and doxxing. In some cases, it’s endangered the lives of innocent people. 

This is not to say that the progress we’ve made because of anonymity is invalidated with their presence. It is, however, an indication that we must do more to reign in the evolution of the internet so that it returns to being human-centered.

Supplementing Your Social Media Cleanse With TARTLE

In a world so interconnected with the internet, it can be difficult to change our perspective on social media—but that’s not to say that it can’t be done.

When you have the right tools and equipment to take control of your data and turn it around, you’ll be able to notice how much you’re capable of and how much influence was taken away from you by the internet.

That’s what TARTLE hopes to do for you.

We offer a collaborative and transparent marketplace where everyone is compensated for the value that they contribute to the platform. You sign up, fill out a data packet, and submit it for sale to companies and causes that are important to you. 

Your information and purchases are stored securely on the network. You are in complete control over the information you submit, the amount of work you put out, and the amount of money you receive.

If you’re reading this, Jaron, we think TARTLE’s the platform you’re looking for. We’d love to have you on the podcast so we can discuss further:

What’s your data worth? Sign up for the TARTLE Marketplace through this link here.